{"id":378405,"date":"2026-10-20T23:48:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T23:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/378405\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T23:48:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T23:48:52","slug":"agudah-honors-tomchei-shabbos-of-queens-leader-for-decades-of-community-service-israel-jewish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/378405\/","title":{"rendered":"Agudah honors Tomchei Shabbos of Queens leader for decades of community service &#8211; Israel &#038; Jewish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                            (Oct. 20, 2026 \/ JNS)\n                    <\/p>\n<p>Four decades ago, Shimi Pelman started volunteering for Tomchei Shabbos of Queens, a nonprofit that feeds the needy. Today, as president, he still helps deliver food.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to just be a driver for Tomchei Shabbos,\u201d Pelman told JNS. \u201cIn 1984, they asked me to serve on the board.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love what I do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Agudath Israel of America honored Pelman on Monday night at a Queens and Long Island legislative leadership reception at Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, a Modern Orthodox synagogue, which drew about 150 people.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" href=\"#image-440000\" id=\"image-440000\" name=\"image-440000\" data-cms-ai=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Shimi Pelman\"  width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792540130_798_.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Shimi Pelman, president of Tomchei Shabbos of Queens, at an Agudath Israel of America event in New York City, Oct. 19, 2026. Photo by Rebecca Szlechter.<\/p>\n<p>Pelman said Tomchei Shabbos serves about 2,000 people each week, and it depends on volunteers to deliver food, handle its operations and raise money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an all-volunteer organization,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one gets paid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the most meaningful parts of the work for Pelman is seeing those who once received assistance become in a position to give back themselves. Children and grandchildren of longtime volunteers have also continued being involved, he said.<\/p>\n<p>About 50 years ago, Pelman became involved in communal work. He saw the need for residents to engage more in local politics and to advocate for their neighborhoods. He later helped political candidates who he believed would support the community.<\/p>\n<p>After decades of service, he hopes more young people help sustain the organization.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow we need the next generation to step up,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n<p>Sam Berger, an Orthodox Jewish member of the New York State Assembly, told JNS that he attended the reception to \u201csupport him and for all he has done for the community over the past several decades.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" href=\"#image-ba0000\" id=\"image-ba0000\" name=\"image-ba0000\" data-cms-ai=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Sam Berger\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792540131_200_.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>New York state representative Sam Berger at an Agudath Israel of America event in New York City, Oct. 19, 2026. Photo by Rebecca Szlechter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is nowhere else I would rather be,\u201d the Assembly member said.<\/p>\n<p>Berger praised Agudah\u2019s role in connecting constituents with elected officials. The organization brings Jewish community members to meet with legislators, helping them better understand their constituents\u2019 concerns, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Agudath Israel humanizes these issues, it makes it a lot easier for these representatives to go out and advocate,\u201d Berger told JNS.<\/p>\n<p>The state lawmaker said that he values his ability to serve the community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always been a big believer in giving back,\u201d he said. Being in a position to do so \u201cis such a blessing\u201d that he appreciates daily, he told JNS.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) also praised Agudah\u2019s advocacy. She recalled seeing Pelman and Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, director of New York government relations at Agudah, advocating in Albany when she served in the state Assembly.<\/p>\n<p>Meng told attendees about congressional efforts to combat Jew-hatred, including bipartisan work to increase funding for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program. She also spoke about legislation intended to make security funding more accessible to eligible organizations.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" href=\"#image-1a0000\" id=\"image-1a0000\" name=\"image-1a0000\" data-cms-ai=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Grace Meng\"  width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792540132_2_.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) at an Agudath Israel of America event in New York City, Oct. 19, 2026. Photo by Rebecca Szlechter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsrael\u2019s security is a precondition for peace,\u201d Meng said.<\/p>\n<p>She warned against conspiracy theories that blame Jews, Jewish communities and Israel for problems in the United States and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must stand together against it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Meng pledged to continue working to combat Jew-hatred and to protect Jewish communities.<\/p>\n<p>Melinda Katz, district attorney of Queens County, also spoke about Jew-hatred and public safety, including ensuring that residents can safely attend synagogues, send their children to school and go about their daily lives.<\/p>\n<p>She lauded Pelman\u2019s longstanding work with Tomchei Shabbos and the Queens Jewish Community Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Oct. 20, 2026 \/ JNS) Four decades ago, Shimi Pelman started volunteering for Tomchei Shabbos of Queens, a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-378405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}